Singer uses basketball training to ready for role debut with S. F. Opera
When J’Nai Bridges makes her role debut as Carmen in San Francisco Opera’s production of Georges Bizet’s opera this week, her years of voice lessons will have been only part of the essential preparation.
Bridges, 32, has a skyrocketing career in opera, but she started off as a promising basketball player in Washington. She rejected scholarships from several universities, choosing singing instead. She attended the Manhattan School of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music and had a three-year residency in Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center.
She says she’s been looking forward to “Carmen” for more than the obvious reasons, and ones related to the NBA: “I knew the chances of the Warriors making the finals was quite high and being in a playoff basketball atmosphere is something that I
love.”
Her favorite was her hometown team Seattle SuperSonics, but when they moved to Oklahoma and became the Oklahoma City Thunder, her loyalty remained only with Kevin Durant, who conveniently now plays with the Warriors.
Through the years, Bridges has maintained an intense physical regimen, which is paying off as she portrays an explosive opera heroine: “I knew that this role was a vocal marathon, but I did not quite anticipate how much of a physical marathon it is as well,” Bridges said during rehearsals in the Opera House.
